Knitting in Love
by unreal zebra
Summary: Where Ally's forced to go to a knitting group and runs into Bad Boy Austin Moon. (wow this is a really sucky summary. Check it out anyways! please.) Auslly One-Shot. AU
***waves* Hello.**

 **Sooo...new one-shot, anyone?**

 **Okay, so I wrote this in the course of like two days (that's a lie. It's been three days), so I apologize if it's not professional and stuff. Also, it's incredibly long, so sorry. Although, I really like long one-shots, so maybe you guys do too, I dunno.**

 **Anyways, I kinda, sorta, really like this and I hope you guys kinda, sorta, really like this to. If you don't, that's totally fine-I'm not gonna harass you or anything, don't worry.**

 **So go get your popcorn-although potato chips are more appropriate for this fic-and let's gooo!**

 **Disclaimer: Please. Do you** ** _think_** **I'm cool enough to own Austin and Ally or anything else recognizable? If you do, that's sweet, but the truth is, I'm not. I've accepted it. Sort of.**

* * *

"But whyyy?" Ally whined, her mouth full of chips.

Ally Dawson was spending her Saturday morning on her grandmother's couch, binging on reruns of Friends, still clad in her fuzzy pjs.

"Oh, quit your whining. You'll enjoy it. Besides, you offered to spend the weekend doing what _I_ wanted to do." Her grandmother reminds her. Ally _had_ offered to spend her grandma's birthday week doing what she wanted, but going to a knitting club? That didn't seem so exciting.

"You go alone every week. Why does it matter if _I_ go?"

"So we can bond, dear! Its better than sitting here all day, rotting your brain on this nonsense," her grandma says, waving her arm towards the TV.

Ally raises an eyebrow, amused. "You rotted your brain on this _'nonsense'_ for six hours yesterday."

Her grandma swats an arm at her. "That was in the past, dear. Now go get ready, we have to leave in 10 minutes."

"I love you, Grandma, I really do. But I don't find spending a Saturday afternoon with a bunch of ladies, all that exciting. Also, I don't even _know_ how to knit!"

"Exactly. This will be the perfect opportunity for you to learn! And its not _just_ a bunch of old ladies," she says, rolling her eyes, a smile on her face. "There's someone your age, who I'm sure will enjoy your company."

Ally sighs. "Fine. I guess it won't be too bad. Just give me five minutes to get dressed." She gets up, grabbing her potato chips and heads upstairs.

* * *

She follows her grandma into the retirement home, immediately seeing a group of old ladies, occupying the couches in the corner. Her grandma heads over and sits down next to one of her friends, greeting everyone, as Ally awkwardly mutters a few polite 'hellos', and sits down next to her grandmother.

"Aww she's such a cutie." Her grandmother's friend coos.

"Well of course she is. She is _my_ granddaughter after all." The two ladies laugh, as Ally blushes.

"Thank you."

"Of course, dear. I'm Martha," the lady says, holding out her hand.

Ally shakes it gently. "Its nice to meet you. I'm Ally."

"Such a beautiful name!"

"I suggested it," Ally's grandma jokes, causing the two women to laugh again.

"I see you're still working on that sweater," Martha says, as Ally's grandma pulls out a bundle of yarn and needles from her bag.

"Mhm. And you're hat is coming along so nicely!" She gushes.

"Why thank you! I just hope Ben will like it."

"Oh, of course he will!"

The women engage in conversation, knitting away furiously, leaving Ally to munch on her potato chips and look around the circle to try to find the other 17 year old girl.

"Afternoon ladies," a voice says, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look up. Ally looks up to, her eyes getting wide and her hands stopping seconds away from olacing a chip in her mouth.

This was the _last_ person Ally would've thought to see here. It _wasn't_ another 17 year old girl. It was a 17 year old _boy._ A 17 year old _bad_ boy. Austin _freaking_ Moon was at an old ladies' knitting group. With his _own_ bag of knitting supplies.

Austin went around the circle, greeting the ladies with cheek kisses and complementing their work, receiving cheek pinches and coos in return.

Ally's mouth was still open and the chip was still hovering in the air when Austin made his ways towards them.

"Nice hat, Martha. Ben's gonna love it," he says, kissing her cheek.

Martha laughs. "Thanks, hun." She reaches up and ruffles his hair. Ally's mouth widens even more when Austin doesn't make a move to fix it and just offers a sweet smile. A sweet smile Ally didn't know Austin was capable of doing.

"And Betsy. The sweater looks great already! I can't wait to see it when its finished." Austin compliments her grandmother.

She smiles and pinches his cheek. "Wait another week, and I'm sure it'll be done."

The boy nods and turns to Ally. "And I see you've brought a special guest." Austin's angelic smile disappears, replaced by his infamous smirk. The smirk that annoyed the heck of Ally. "Close your mouth, sweetheart. You'll catch flies."

Ally, whose mouth was _still_ open, quickly shut it and glared at the blond.

Her grandmother laughs from beside her. "Austin, this is my granddaughter, Ally. And Ally, this is Austin. He's a regular."

Ally's mouth gapes open again, her chip almost falling from her hand. Ally knew who Austin was-he was in most of her classes (He was actually kinda smart, believe it or not.), but he was a _regular_ of a _knitting_ group? A knitting group of _old ladies._ And did she mention he was Marino High's baddest boy? Ally had never been more confused.

"Surprised?" Austin brings her out of her thoughts, the smirk still plastered on his face. Ally shuts her mouth open again, narrowing her eyes at him. He turns to the two ladies, who were watching the teens with knowing smiles. "I'll talk to you guys in a bit. And sweetheart, leave the gaping to the fish." He winks at her and takes the chip from her hand, walking away to greet another lady.

Ally plays back what just happened and huffs when she realizes that he called her a fish and also had the nerve to take _her_ chip.

"He's such a sweet boy," her grandmother gushes to Martha.

Martha sighs. "I know. I wish Ben was as much of a gentle man as he is."

Ally scoffs, rolling her eyes. _Whoever Ben is, he's way more of a gentleman than Austin, cuz Austin's the furthest thing from a gentleman._

* * *

Half an hour late, Ally was munching her way through her second bag of chips, staring into space, deep in daydreaming. As she reached into the bag for another chip, she realized she had been staring at Austin was a good 15 minutes. She snaps out of her daydream, causing Austin to smirk.

"Take a picture, so you can stare as much as you want."

Annoyed, Ally rolls her eyes and turns the other way, only to come in contact with the stares of her grandma and Martha. "Yes...?"

"Ah, young love," her grandmother sighs happily.

"What?"

"It's so obvious you like him."

Ally chokes on her chip, her eyes going wide. " _What?_ Oh my gosh. Grandma! I don't like him!"

Martha laughs. "You're saying that now, dear, but the next thing you know, you'll be married and have cute little babies."

Ally chokes again. "Woah, okay, no. The _last_ thing I'm doing is marrying Austin, let alone _birth_ his children! I hate the guy!"

"Your grandpa and I hated each other too, but one thing led to another and soon we fell in love," her grandmother says, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Ally's grandpa had died from cancer when she was nine. Ally had always admired their love story and hoped one day she would have the same firytale romance like they did. But Austin Moon was definitely not her Prince Charming.

"Yeah, well, I don't like Austin, so none of that is happening."

"You never know, dear. Oh, we should start knitting sweaters for the lovebirds' babies," Martha teases.

"Oh my gosh." Ally covers her face, turning pink. " _Please_ stop. I _don't_ love him; never have, never will."

Austin, who had been listening to the entire conversation, decided to embarrass some more. "Love you too, sweetheart!" He calls, loud enough for everyone to hear. Ally sinks deeper into the couch, flushing with embarrassment, as the ladies laugh and 'aww'.

Ally's grandma pats her arm comfortingly. "We're just teasing, dear. Now put down those chips. That's all you've been eating for the past half hour."

Ally uncovers her face and pouts. "Not true. I ate a snickerdoodle."

"Half of it."

"It's not my fault it wasn't edible."

"You're lucky you didn't end up in the hospital, like Ruby did the last time Nancy made the snack," Martha says, focusing on her knitting.

Ally's eyes go wide in horror.

"Oh, Martha. Don't scare the poor girl." Her grandmother turns to her. "Ruby forgot she was allergic to peanuts and ended up having an allergic reaction. She's fine now, see?" She points to a blonde lady, chatting away with another women. "Anyways, you should do what you came here to do-knit!"

"But I _can't._ And I don't have any needles or anything."

Her grandma rummages through her bad, frowning, as she gazes into it. "Hmm. I was sure I brought another pair." She looks at Ally. "Why don't you go ask Austin? He always brings extra."

 _He doesn't bring extra pencils to class, but he brings extra knitting needles. Wow._ "Is it really necessary? I mean, I don't even know the first thing about knitting."

"Austin's also a natural at knitting. He'll teach you." O _h. Greaty, great, great._ Her grandma smiles to Austin, who waves back and pats the seat next to him, giving Ally an over-exaggerated innocent smile.

Ally just glares at him, but knowing her grandma wouldn't take no for an answer, she sighs and trudges over, not forgetting her best friend-the half-eaten bag of chips.

She groans as she plops onto the cushion, next to _him._ "I hate you, so don't make this any more worse than it already is."

Austin pouts. "Aww, but I just declared my undying love for you."

"Shut up. Just give me the freaking needles and the freaking yarn and just leave me alone." She angrily stuffs a handful of chips in her mouth.

Austin smirks and pulls out two needles and a ball of black yarn from his bag-did she mention they had _daisies_ on them?- and hands them to her. "There ya go, sweetheart."

Ally rolls her eyes at the nickname he had given her in freshman year. It was Valentine's Day and somehow she had gotten a candy heart stuck on her face. She still doesn't know how it happened.

Sighing, she takes the stuff out of his hands and stares at them. "So now what?

"You knit," he says in a 'duh' tone.

" _How_ do you knit, genius?"

"Aww, does wittle Awwy need some hewlp?"

Ally sighs. standing up. "You're hopeless. I'll just ask my grandma."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back down, smiling at her. "I was just teasing."

 _What is it with all the teasing today?_

"Did you just _smile_ at me?" she asks, sitting back down.

Austin rolls his eyes. "Yes, I think that's what they call it these days."

"Who knew? You smile. _The_ Austin Moon knows how to smile! Someone alert the media!"

He gives her a bored look, which she returns with an innocent smile and a few bats of her eyelashes. "You done?"

She shrugs. "For now."

"Okay, so just take the yarn and loop it around the needle, like this," Austin instructs, demonstrating with his yarn and needles.

"Like this?" Ally tries to copy his actions.

"No, like-"

"This?"

"No. You just-"

"How about now?"

"God, how do you mess up a single loop?" Austin lets out an exasperated sigh and loops the yarn around her needle, doing a few stitches to start her off. "Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so." Ally takes the needles back and bites her lip, as she goes through the steps in her head and tries to follow them correctly.

Austin watches, sighing deeply. "Here." He reaches an arm over her and holds her hands, leading her through the process a few times.

"Okay, I think I got it." Austin nods and let's go, leaning back to watch her attempt.

"There you go! You got it!"

"I did it? Oh my gosh. I did it! I just knitted!"

Austin watches her, amused. "Calm down, sweetheart. Its only one stitch."

Ally narrows her eyes at him for a split second, before realizing that Bad Boy Austin Moon just taught her how to do an old lady hobby. "Wait...why do _you_ know how to knit?"

Austin shrugs, and turns to his own knitting. "Cuz I do."

"But like _how?_ I mean, you're a bad boy. You're leather jackets and football, not knitting needles and snickerdoodles."

"Bad boys have soft spots too, y'know."

"Are you gonna give me some kinda sob story now?" Ally asked uncomfortably. Sad stories were her worst nightmare. She always ended up bawling and the sadness stuck with her for days.

Austin looks up. "I wasn't going to give you any story, but since you asked, why not." He reached into her bag of potato chips, Ally quickly swatting his hand away. "I just want one," he whines.

"You already stole one."

"Yeah, out of the hundred you ate." He reaches in and grabs one, to quick for Ally to react.

She huffs. "You owe me two chips."

Austin swallows, waving an arm at her. "Yeah, yeah. Okay, so this story starts last year. Remember in the spring, when we vandalized the cafeteria?" Ally nods. Austin and his gang had spray painted random doodles and words on the cafeteria walls and tables. The staff was furious and assigned the boys detention for a full month, but in Ally's opinion, the graffiti had made the cafeteria more pleasant and welcoming.

"Yeah, so in addition the cleaning the cafeteria and the detention, we were all assigned community service. Dallas got assigned to assist sick people in the hospital, Elliot had to serve food at the homeless shelter, Gavin had to help out at the adoption center, and I had to take care of old people here-the retirement home," Austin explains, as he works on his sweater, or scarf, or whatever it was. Ally munches on her last few chips intensely, then wiped the inside of the bag with her oily fingers for any remaining crumbs.

Austin continues. "At first I hated it. To me, old people smelled weird, were insanely boring, and not to mention, incredibly slow at absolutely everything. I tried to ditch as much as I could, but Conely said that it was the last straw and if I ditched the community service or caused any more trouble, I'd be expelled." Ally's mouth gapes open. "Again with the fish gaping. Is it really that surprising?"

Ally closes her mouth, licking her lips for any stray crumbs. "I guess it shouldn't be, but it is. You may be a bad boy, but your antics were never harmful. They were just childish fun."

"I wish he saw it that way," Austin mutters. "Anyways, I dragged myself here every Tuesday and Saturday, loathing every minute. But one Saturday, I was coming back from the bathroom, when I noticed an old lady sitting here, silently crying. She was going through a photo album, so I thought maybe her husband or someone died or something, y'know. And seeing old people crying breaks anyone's heart, so I went over to her and asked her what was wrong. Apparently no one had died; her son had stood her up. He had promised to come visit her before he moved his family to London, but he never showed up and she didn't get to say goodbye to her grandchildren or anything. I had never felt so bad for someone. She was just this old lady, a sweet old grandma, who just wanted to say goodbye to her grandchildren and son before they moved to another country, but the freaking son had the nerve to bail. On his own mother!"

"Oh my gosh. That's awful! The poor lady. I feel so bad for her."

Austin nods. "I did too and I wanted so badly to do something, but I couldn't, and that made me even more mad. So I decided to talk with her and we spent the whole afternoon and evening talking about her family and her life and memories-her name was Paula, by the way. Then before I left, I asked her why she was alone and how I had never seen her before. She told me she didn't know anyone and kept to herself. which broke my heart even more. So that's when I introduced her to the knitting group, since she enjoyed knitting and stuff. Paula was so overjoyed and happy when I saw her a few Saturdays later. She had made new friends and insisted that I come too, and as embarrassed as I was that someone might find out, I didn't have it in me to break her heart, so I bought myself a pair of knitting needles and cleared my Saturday afternoons. She taught me how to knit and well, here we are I guess."

Ally looks at Austin in awe. "I never knew you had such a big heart. Or a _heart_ even."

"I told you. Even the baddest boys have soft spots."

Ally scans the sofas. "So where's Paula? I wanna meet her."

Austin's eyes turn sad, his voice barely above a whisper. "Paula's not here anymore."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Ally whispers.

"Huh?" Austin asks, then realization hits him. "Oh, no. She's not _dead_. She just moved to London after a bit, so she could be with her son and stuff."

"That's it? I thought she _died_ or something." Ally glares at him. "Then why were you being all dramatic and such? You could've just said she went to London, instead of killing her off."

"Well, she was like a grandma to me and yeah..."

"Oh. I bet you miss her a lot. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well," he clears his throat. "So need any help with the knitting?"

"I think I'm good."

Austin nods, returning to his own work.

Ally studied him for a moment, before turning to her mess of yearn.

Maybe Austin Moon wasn't such a jerk.

* * *

Mondays. Ally's most hated days. Ally sighed as she shut her locker, heading to Calculus-her most hated class. Trish was sick, leaving Ally to suffer on her own.

As she was minding her own bitter thoughts, peacefully walking through the crowded hallway of idiotic morons (Ally wasn't a Monday person.), a hand grabs her, pushing her into a locker. Ally opens her eyes, seeing hazel eyes and wisps of blonde hair. "I've heard a simple 'hello' is a nice way to greet someone." Ally grunts.

"Look, about Saturday, whatever it was, it didn't happen. You, me aren't friends and we never will be. It was just a one time thing."

Ally rolls her eyes. "You're making it sound like we went on a date or something. Please. I don't wanna be friends with you anymore than you do."

"And _absolutely_ no telling _anyone_ about _that."_

"Got it. Now could ya let me go?"

"Not until you _swear_ you promise. I don't even know why I told you all that. If anyone finds out, my image will be ruined," he mutters to himself.

Angry, Ally pushes Austin away from her face and glares at him. "Y'know, I thought maybe you weren't as much of a jerk as I thought you were. That maybe you actually did have a soft spot in your bad boy heart. But this-" she says, gesturing between the two of them. "Just proves that you're an even _more_ of a jerk than I thought. I wasn't planning on becoming your best friend and I wasn't going to expose your secret to the whole school, but apparently that's exactly what you thought I was going to do. I thought that maybe the Austin I met on Saturday was just as real as the Austin right now, but I guess I was wrong. All you care about is your freaking image. Well, don't worry Austin, I'm not going to ruin your image. You're not worth my time or effort." She begins walking away, fuming at how ridiculous Austin was being, when said boy grabbed her arm again, pinning her into the lockers once more.

"You don't know how much I've worked to make this image. My life would be ruined without it," he whispers coldly.

"The fact that you think your life depends on a high school social status is pathetic."

"Some of us actually wanna go far in life, sweetheart."

"And a social status built on four measly years of high school is gonna get you there?" Ally scoffs. "Like I said. Pathetic. Well, have fun with your delusion dreams. I gotta get to class, which is _actually_ gonna get me far in life, so bye." She frees herself from Austin's grasp and walks down the hallway, closer to her least favorite class.

* * *

The week had passed without any interactions between Austin and Ally. But then on Saturday, Ally once again found herself in the retirement center. (Ally's grandma was eerily good at convincing.)

Ally engaged in small talk with her grandmother and Martha, as she knitted, only struggling a bit. A while later, Austin walked in with his daisy bag and a plate wrapped in foil.

"Afternoon ladies," he greeted, placing the plate in the middle of the table. He went arpund the circle, doing his usual greets and compliments, as Ally rolled her eyes, annoyed at the fakeness.

A few minutes later, she felt a presence sit down next to her, but chose to ignore him. "Hey."

"If you're going to pretend to like me for one day, then don't bother. I don't wanna be such a pain to your ' _image_ '."

Austin sighs. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that to you. The truth is, I actually really, uh, I liked hanging out with you. It was refreshing to just be Austin Moon again-not Bad Boy Moon or Austin Dear. Ever since Dez left, I've had no one to be myself around." Dez was Austin's childhood best friend. The two of them did everything together, but Dez had moved to L.A. this summer so he could attend film school.

"Then why did you say to pretend it never happened?"

"Because I didn't want people to find out I'm not a bad boy. I've made up this whole image for myself and if people find out that's not really me, well, then I'm a goner."

"What exactly are you going to lose? If your friends aren't going to accept you for yourself, then they aren't worth your time anyways. You'll lose a bunch of old friends, but gain real ones instead. That doesn't seem so horrible," Ally says, looking up at him.

"It's not. And I get that now. I just don't want anyone to find out I have a secret knack for knitting. That would be _humiliating_."

"Who said anyone has to find out? You can keep secrets Austin, but that doesn't mean you have to be a bully while you're doing so."

He sighs, then smiles at her "You're right and I'm sorry. Apology accepted?"

She thinks for a moment. "Are you gonna cage me against the lockers on Monday?"

He smirks suggestively. "Only if you want me to."

Ally rolls her eyes. "Yeah, no thanks. I'm good." Then she smiles at him. "And we're good too."

"So friends?"

"Mhm. Friends and knitting buddies."

Austin grins. "Speaking of, how's it going?" He gestures to her needles looped with yarn.

"I've got the hang of it."

"What're you making?"

"Um, I'm not sure...What are you making?"

"A beanie." Austin holds up his bundle of knitted yarn forming the shape of a beanie.

"Oh that's nice!"

"Thanks. Beanies are my favorite."

Ally laughs. "I could've guessed. You wear a different beanie everyday. I've never had a beanie. Are they as comfortable as everyone says?"

Austin's eyes widen. "You don't have a _beanie_? Not even _one_? That's it. I'm making you one for your birthday."

"My birthday's not for another two months."

"That means I can make you a _ton_ then."

"I don't know if I'll need so many."

"Trust me, sweetheart. You're going to _love_ them."

Ally reaches forward to the table, grabbing one of the cookies Austin has made. "So Austin Moon's a man of surprises, huh?"

"Hmm?"

"You're a genius, you knit, _and_ you bake. Do you like have a secret fetish for nail polish or something?"

Austin grins. "What teenage boy doesn't love nail polish. I have a whole stash in my closet."

"Great. Now we can have sleepovers and paint each other's nails. So what else do I not know about you?"

"There's a lot of stuff you don't know about me, sweetheart."

"Like what?"

"Um...my middle name's Monica?" He says, hesitantly, his voice getting higher at the end.

Ally grins. "Austin Monica Moon. It has a nice ring to it."

Austin pouts. "Stop being a meanie."

"It's embarrassing, but it's still better than mine."

"Which is...?"

"Not telling."

"But Ally! I told you mine!"

Ally shrugs. "I never said you had to tell me your middle name."

"But-ugh fine. But I'm finding out day. Hey, you don't have any chips today." Austin notices.

She frowns. "Yeah. I only had one bag and I finished it on the way here."

"You know there's a vending machine, right? It's by the water fountains by the stairs."

"Are you serious? Oh, I need chips! Be right back." Ally jumps off the couch, dropping her needles on the floor.

Austin laughs as she runs off to find the vending machine.

* * *

Three months had passed and December flew into Miami, bringing along its Christmas cheer and chilly weather. Over the last few months, Austin and Ally had become inseparable.

Ally became a regular at the knitting group, spending her Saturdays knitting with Austin instead of marathoning Friends. And Austin slowly drifted away from his 'friends', ditching them to have lunch with Ally or hangout with her in the library. With the amount of time they spent together, they got to know each other like the back of their hand. Ally now knew that although Austin was smart, he sucked at geography and had a huge collection of stuffed animals hidden in his closet. Austin finally learned Ally's middle name-he laughed more than Ally thought was appropriate-and that she was even more dorky than he originally thought. And as promised, Austin had knitted Ally an assortment of beanies for her birthday, all of which she instantly fell in love for.

Spending so much time together also led them to developing slight ( _huge_ ) feelings for each other. Although everyone could see it, the two awkwardly laughed it off, insisting they were 'just friends' and nothing more.

But that soon changed.

The Monday before winter break, Ally opened her locker, grudgingly, to get her Calculus book. What she didn't expect to see was the yarn taped against the inside of the door, formed into a phrase.

 _Will you go out with me?_

 _"_ So what do you say, sweetheart?"

Ally turns around to find Austin standing in front of her, his hands casually in his pockets, looking a tad bit nervous, but a smile grazing his features. "How did you get my locker combination?"

Austin groans, frustrated. "Really Ally?"

"I asked you a question."

He narrows his eyes at her. "I asked you one first."

"First answer mine, then I'll answer yours," Ally says, crossing her arms.

"But mine's more important!"

"If you don't wanna answer, that's fine. I needa get to Calculus anyways." Ally turns around, reaching into her locker for her book.

"What-no! Ally! I need an answer!" He grabs her shoulders, turning her around.

"I do too, but looks like neither of us is getting one."

Austin sighs. "I asked Trish. Happy?"

Ally smiles. "Yup. Now I gotta get to class, so," she makes shooing motions with her hands, telling him to get out of her way.

"Are you kidding me?" Austin mutters under his breath. He narrows his eyes at her, caging her with his arms against the locker, leaning down so they were nose-to-nose, his breaths warming her face. "I'm not letting you leave until I get an answer, sweetheart."

Ally rolls her eyes, but smiles. "Yes, I'll go out with you. Happy?" She asks him, mockingly.

Austin grins, hugging her, picking her slightly off the ground. "Happy doesn't even begin to describe it," he says, nuzzling his nose in the crook of her neck.

"So where are we going for our date?"

"Hmm. I need some more yarn, so I was thinking we could hit up the Yarn Shack after school. Whaddya think?"

Ally pulls away and looks at him dryly. "It's our first date. At least _try_ to put some effort into it."

"I was kidding. How about hot chocolate and walking around the Miami Plaza on Saturday night? Simple, yet classy."

"Perfect. Pick me up at 8." Ally leans up and kisses him on the cheek, before heading down the hall to Calculus. She turns back around, finding Austin still

standing in front of her locker, a love struck look on his face. "By the way," she calls out. "I still think you're a jerk."

Austin looks at her and smirks. "And I still think you're a gaping fish, sweetheart."

Ally smiles and waves, before walking down the hall.

* * *

Ally sat on the couch, munching on her chips furiously, trying to calm her nerves. It was 8:07 and Austin still wasn't here. Ally was beginning to think he stood her up. _Of course he stood me up. He probably didn't even want to go on the date in the first place. He could have any girl; why would he choose me? Clearly, I was just some kind of joke._ Ally shakes her head, clearing away her negative thoughts. _Don't be ridiculous Ally. He's not a jerk. He's probably just stuck in traffic or stressing over what shoes to wear._ Ally smiles at her subconscious, but still fidgets as she fills her mouth with chips.

Ally was reaching into the bag for another chip, when the doorbell rang. She scrambled off the couch, tripping on the way to the door. "I got it!" She calls out, opening the door. "Hey."

"Hey." Austin smirks at her. "You look cute."

"What? Are you saying I didn't dress good enough for you? Funny, cuz you're the one who made no effort whatsoever," Ally says defensively, gesturing to his blue button down, ripped jeans, and white Converse. "Not to mention, you're eight minutes late."

Austin amusedly raises an eyebrow at her. "Woah, calm down, sweetheart. I had to stop for gas. And I was saying you look like a cute little bean. As usual." He grins, bopping her nose.

Ally was wearing a cream sweater, with one of the sleeves hanging over her shoulder, paired with a maroon skater skirt and her brown boots, all topped off with the maroon beanie Austin had knitted her. She gives him a look. "A bean?"

He shrugs. "I happen to think beans are very cute," he says, taking a chip from her bag.

Ally glares at him. "We've talked about this. You are not allowed to steal my chips. They're adding up."

"They're just chips, sweetheart."

She leans up in his face, her glare getting harder. "They are not _just_ chips. They are _my_ chips. Understand?"

Austin leans back, holding his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Sheesh. I'll get you more. How many do I owe you?

"

"27."

"You actually keep count?"

"I don't joke when it comes to chips."

"Yeah, no kidding. So do you wanna stand in your doorway the whole night, or should we go?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec." Ally leans her head into the house. "Mom, I'm leaving!"

"Okay hun. Have fun on your date!" Her mom calls out from the kitchen.

"Wait. Ally's going on a _date_?" She hears her dad exclaim, followed by the chair's legs screeching loudly against the tile floor. Hurriedly, she shuts the door and grabs Austin's hand, running to his car.

They get in and put on their seat belts, as Austin starts the car, driving out of the driveway. "So I was thinking. Since next week is winter break, we could have movie night dates. With hot chocolate and potato chips and Disney movies and all that ish." Austin suggests.

Ally hums. "That depends on how well this date goes."

"I guess I better not screw up then."

"No, I guess you shouldn't."

Needless to say, Austin and Ally's winter break was filled with movie night dates, with the hot chocolate and potato chips and Disney movies and all that ish.

* * *

All was right in the world for Ally, until February came and the doctors announced that her grandmother wasn't going to be around for much longer.

Ally had cried for a bit in the beginning, but then realized she should be strong and be grateful for the last few days she got to spend with her grandmother. So she put on a brave smile and sat in the hospital room for hours, telling her grandma about her 'oh so amazing' school adventures and the awesome lasagna her mom had made the night before-stuff she would talk about on a regular day.

Two weeks had passed and absolutely _nothing_ was right in Ally's world.

She missed the Valentine's Day dance last Friday, that she and Austin were looking forward to, because she got the flu. On Monday, she failed her Calculus final. Then on Wednesday, she slipped in the cafeteria, colliding with some guy and his food, and ended up smelling like rotten milk and spaghetti for the rest of the day. And now, she entered the retirement home, snack-less.

Ally had promised her grandma she would bake cookies for this week's session, but all she ended up with was a kitchen dusted with flour and a visit from the fire department. Embarrassed, she approached the group of ladies and apologized for the lack of snacks. A few ladies complained about not having anything to eat, causing Ally to blush in embarrassment and hide her face behind her hair.

Martha pats her arm. "Its okay, dear. You have a lot going on right now. We understand."

Ally meekly nods. "I'm gonna go get something from the vending machine," she says, heading off to get her comfort food.

And then her horrible week became even more horrible. The vending machine was out of order. Seeing the 'We apologize for the inconvenience' sign was the last thing Ally needed. She collapsed against the glass frame, sliding to the floor, letting out all the stress and sadness this week had caused in horrifying sobs.

A few moments later she feels someone sit down next to her and start rubbing her back. "Shh. I'm here."

Ally raises her head and blinks away her tears, as a blurry Austin comes into focus. "They don't have chips." Ally whimpers.

"Then I guess its a good thing I brought a bag." Austin gives her a small smile, pulling out a bag of chips from his daisy bag.

Ally holds the bag, staring at it in awe, then looks up at Austin. "You brought me chips."

"Mhm."

This causes Ally to break down for the second time that day. Austin places her in his lap and rubs her back soothingly, as Ally buries herself in his chest, sobbing into his t-shirt. He holds her as she cries, letting out all the emotion she had bottled up. Once her cries reduced down into quiet sniffles and whimpers, she leans back, resting her head against his shoulder.

Austin gently took the bag of chips out of her hands and opened it, handing it to her. "Here. You okay?" He asks softly, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

Ally nods meekly, sucking on a chip, nibbling it slowly. "You don't have to stay here, y'know."

"You've had a really sucky week. The least I can do is try to make it better."

Ally leans further into him. "Thank you."

Austin kisses her cheek and then rests his head on top of hers, rubbing her arm soothingly. "Of course, sweetheart."

They stay silent for a moment, the crunching filling the silence. "I visited your grandma this morning."

Ally's body tenses. "Oh."

"Yeah. She wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Did you tell her I was?"

"I told her I'd ask you."

"I'm okay."

"Okay." Austin stays silent for a moment, before he speaks up again. "It's okay to not be okay, y'know."

"I'm fine."

Austin takes his head off hers and places two fingers her chin, raising her head up to look at him. "Ally. I know you're not okay."

Ally looks at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm scared Austin. I don't want to lose her," she whispers, her voice breaking.

"Oh, sweetheart. I know, I know." Austin pulls her back into him, as she cries again. "Shh. It's gonna be okay, sweetheart. Everything's gonna be fine."

"I don't want her to die, Austin. She's my grandma. She's my everything. I don't want to lose her." Ally sobs.

"Shh." Austin presses a kiss on her hair, continuing to rub her back. "Think of it this way. Wouldn't you rather have your grandma reunite with your grandpa and not suffer through anymore pain?"

Ally sniffles, leaning back to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"Here she's living, but suffering with pain. When she's in heaven, she won't have to deal with any pain and she'll get to be with your grandfather again. I know you don't wanna lose her, but sometimes letting go, is the best thing. And she'll always be with you, Ally. You'll always have your memories and you'll always, _always_ have her in your heart."

Ally leans into Austin again and sighs. "You're right. It's just that I'm really going to miss her and-" her eyes start blurring and her breaths get uneven.

Austin rubs her shoulder. "I know and it's okay to miss her. I'm gonna miss her too. We all are. And it's okay if you're not okay. You have your parents, Trish, _me_ , and we're all here for you, okay?"

Ally nods, pressing the heels of her palms to her eyes to dry her tears. "Yeah. I'm okay. Thanks."

They sit against the vending machine for the next hour, comforting one another, as they share the bag of chips and their memories of Ally's grandma.

* * *

A week later, the hospital had called the Dawson's, informing them that Betsy would pass away any moment. For the next few days, the Dawsons took turns, staying with the old woman, cherishing their last few moments together.

During one of her visits, Ally had promised her grandma to bring Austin, so after school on Thursday, Austin drove the two of them to the hospital.

He parks the car and looks over at Ally, who's chewing her hair, trembling in the seat. Austin reaches over and grabs her hand, pulling out the hair from her mouth. "I thought you broke your hair chewing habit years ago?"

Ally looks at him, her eyes wide with fear. "What if we walk in there and she's _dead_? I didn't even get to say goodbye, Austin!"

"Ally, calm down, sweetheart. Think positively, okay?" He rubs her hand with his thumb, trying to calm her down.

Ally nods, still trembling, as they get out of the car. Austin comes over to her side and holds her hand, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I've got you. Ready?"

"Y-yeah."

They walk into the building, tell the receptionist who they're here to see, and enter the room her grandma's in-prisoned in. Ally lets out a breath of relief when she saw the heart monitor line's creating random pyramids and her grandma's blinking blue eyes.

"Ally, dear. How are you?" Her grandmother asks, her voice fragile.

Ally smiles, her eyes wet with tears of gratitude. "I'm good. How bout you?"

"So much better now that you're here. The beeping of this monitor is driving me insane!"

Ally relaxes at her grandma's normal humor, as Austin laughs lightly, causing her grandma to look up at Austin. "Oh Austin, dear. I've missed you. I haven't seen you since Saturday."

Austin leans down, pecking her cheek. "I'm sorry. I meant to come visit, but my week was crammed with tests and practices."

She pats his cheek. "It's okay, dear. I understand. So I've got you two all to myself for the evening, so tell me about your day!"

Austin and Ally make themselves comfortable, filling her in on the impossible Physics exam and the Tuna Casserole Surprise.

* * *

"We'll come by tomorrow, Grandma." Ally kisses her grandmother's cheek and stands up.

"Before you two leave, I have a present for you," her grandmother says, reaching into the nightstand'a drawer and pulling out a slightly wrinkled gift bag. Ally takes it from her, curiously peeking inside. "Nu-uh. Not just yet. I made this for both of you, but you won't need them for a while-at least I hope so."

Austin and Ally shared confused looks, before her grandma continues. "I won't be able to see them in use, but I'm sure you two will love them."

"Grandma, don't say that." Ally's eyes well up with tears.

"Ally, honey, we all know I'm not going to last much longer. And that's okay. I've lived my time and now it's time for me to go. The circle of life, right?" Ally nods, tears streaming down her face, as her grandma smiles at her and pats her arm. "I love you dear. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't. I love you too. So much." Ally lets out a sob, bending down to hug her grandma. "And thank you for forcing me to go knitting with you. I wouldn't have seen who Austin really was, if it wasn't for you," Ally whispers.

"You're welcome, dear." Her grandma whispers back, smiling.

Ally pulls back, giving her one last smile and steps back, allowing Austin to say his goodbyes.

" I love you too dear."

"I love you too," Austin replies, tears flowing down his own face, as he bends down to hug her.

Ally's grandma holds Austin's hand, patting it with the other. "And promise me that you'll take care of Ally and make sure she's okay. She's a stubborn one and I don't want her to hurt herself," she whispers, loud enough so only Austin could hear.

"Don't worry Betsy. I'll take care of her. I promise. She's my everything."

"You're her everything too."

Austin smiles. "I know." He turns to Ally and brings her into his side.

"I know this is a big one, but promise me that no matter what happens, you two will always love each other."

"We will, Grandma. We will."

Austin and Ally say 'I love you's one last time, before heading out of the hospital, holding each other in their arms, trying to dull the heartache.

* * *

Ally's grandma had passed away that night. The good thing was that she died peacefully in her sleep.

The funeral was held on Saturday morning. Her grandmother practically knew the whole town, causing the church to be packed with the knitting ladies, her bingo friends, the bald guy from the deli, and a bunch of strangers Ally had never even seen before.

Ally cried the whole time, being held by her parents, Trish, and Austin, who cried along with her.

After the ceremony, Austin drove Ally to her grandma's house, where they laid on her bed, drained out from crying so much.

Ally notices the gist bag her grandma had given her, sitting against the wall, and turned to Austin. "Should we-should we open it?"

Austin looks in the direction she was gesturing and nods slightly. "I think she would want us to," he says, his voice raspy.

Ally bites her lip and climbs off the bed, walking over to the bag, Austin following. She sits down and takes out the card, handing Austin the bag.

Austin looks over Ally's shoulder, as she begins reading her grandma's perfect cursive.

 _To my dearest dears, Austin and Ally_. _I know right now you guys think you're just a high school couple and your future together only seems like a fantasy._

 _But I know both of you really well and I've never seen a pair as good as the two of you, so I know that you two are going to get married one day and add a new generation to this family. Which is why I knitted you hats for your future children. (I was going to make them sweaters, but the sizing was an issue.) I know I won't be around to see my grandbabies, but I want them to know that I love them already._

 _And I guess I also love you two._

 _Hugs and kisses,_

 _Your loving grandma._

Ally finishes reading the note, her eyes glistening with tears, as she turns to Austin, who was holding the two knitted hats-one blue and one pink. "They're beautiful," Ally says, taking one gently from his hands.

"They are." Ally lays her head on Austin's shoulder, playing with the hat.

"Do you really think we might get married one day?" He asks.

"Well. Grandma's- _was_ -always right, so yes, I think we will."

"I think so too," he says, playing with her hair.

"What do you think it'll be like?"

"Well...I'd casually propose by knitting you a beanie with a ring in it."

"You ruined the surprise." Ally points out.

"That's just what I want you to think. The real proposal's gonna be _way_ better. Anyways, then, our wedding would be in the summer, on the beach. You'd wear a gorgeous, white princess dress with my converse underneath."

"Does that mean you'll wear my heels?"

"Sure. Then we'll buy a cute, little house with a nice garden and an extra room for my stuffed animals."

Ally raises an eyebrow. "Is that really necessary?"

" _Yes._ It needs to be _perfect._ I mean, we're going to raise our octuplets in that house."

"Octuplets? As in _eight_ kids _?"_

She feels Austin nod against her head. "Yup. You'll wake up extra early on Sunday mornings-"

"Why do _I_ have to wake up extra early on a weekend?"

"So you can make the pancakes. Duh."

"Why can't you? You make them better anyways."

"Cuz I would actually stay up till the end of the movie, while you and the kids would fall asleep halfway."

"What movie?"

"The movie we'd watch on our family movie nights on Saturdays, with the hot chocolate and potato chips-"

"And all that ish?"

"Exactly. And that house would be the place where we comfort our daughter when she gets upset because she fell in ballet class. And where we embarrass our son over the huge crush he has on the girl on his baseball team. We'll watch them grow up and create lifelong memories."

Ally hums. "I like our future."

"I do too."

Ally snuggles into Austin's embrace, sighing lovingly. "I love you, Austin."

Austin kisses her head, before resting his head on hers.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

* * *

 **Okie dokie artichokies. Its done. Finally. This took forever to type and I hate typing, so phew.**

 **So originally, half of the stuff that happened wasn't going to happen. It was supposed to focus on Auslly's relationship and Ally's grandma was only going to be in here for like five minutes, but then I guess death was in her fate. Sorry, Grandma. And also, Ally wasn't going to have such a major potato chip addiction (I went really overboard with that...oops?)**

 **And like I said, it was only supposed to focus on Auslly getting to know each other and Austin getting out of his bad boy phase and it was gonna end with Auslly confessing their feelings. (In other words-the whole dating ish wasn't gonna happen.)**

 **Seriously, this would've only been like 2,000 words, not 8,000-something, but all of that stuff happened and I'm glad, cuz I love the way it turned out, even though everything was all cramped together and Auslly was rushed.**

 **And yes, I suck at writing Bad Boy Austin, so sorry. He turned out to be sweet way quicker than I wanted, so I'm mad at him.**

 **"I'm sorry! I just really liked Ally!"**

 ***ignores him cuz I'm not talking to him cuz I'm mad at him***

 **(No, I don't talk to my fanfic characters. Pshh, I'm not a weirdo. Dez, shut up!)**

 **Also, CYFA: I know I haven't updated that n for-ever, but like school has been blech and I'm still trying to figure out how to place everything and such, but I promise I'll update it soon! And if you guys have any suggestions on what to name Austin's goldfish, lemme know!**

 **Okay, so I think that's it, so I'm gonna go get some potato chips. While I'm gone, review and let me know what you thought of this ish. Toodles. *waves***

 **-sorry for this hecka long, annoying author's note lol-**

 **(Why doesn't school teach you how to catch a phrase? Cuz I really need to know.)**

 **(haha, I really love this pun. *dies of laughter, patting self on back*)**

 **~Unreal Zebra**


End file.
